VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL: Review

While Japan has never really been shy of weird and
crazy horror flicks, it's people like Iguchi Machine Girl) and Nishimura (Tokyo
Gore Police) who used the potential of the web to full effect,
marketing their obscure cult films to a surprisingly wide audience.
Vampire Girl Vs Frankenstein Girl is the latest to join the cult, adding
its own particular flavour to the ever-growing list of Japanese
splatter films.

This time around, Nishimura is not alone though. He teams up with
fellow director Tomomatsu (best known from Stacy and Zombie Self-Defense
Force) to create a more comedy-oriented film that still bears all the
typical treats of its predecessors, but adds a layer of silly comedy not
quite unlike Cromartie High. The result is mighty strange, as you might have expected.

There is not much in the way of a story, but what else is new. I
wouldn't be surprised if they spent more time coming up with strange and
fantastical creatures than they did coming up with a coherent
storyline. In between scenes there's some quick and dirty plot
progression, but most of the film is spent
on the crazy characters, gore effects and some running gags on the side.

VG Vs FG knows a pretty basic setup. Two girls, one guy, one
blood-filled chocolate turning the guy into a vampire slave. This pisses
off the other girl which ends up as a Frankenstein creature, giving it
her all to win him back. On the sidelines we have a crazy professor, the
wrist-cutters club (who are holding some sort of competition) and the
Ganguro clan (Japanese girls trying to be blacker than black). Oh, and
Igor the janitor of course.

The directors didn't have much of budget to work with, but that is
hardly an excuse. On the contrary, they are actively exploiting their
lack of budget to do pretty much everything they want, even if it looks a
bit amateurish. Regular effects and CG effects look rather cheap, but
if you consider what kind of freedom it allows them, it's hardly an
issue.

They still manage to create a solid atmosphere by decent camera work,
some neat stylistic touches and a varied selection of effects. There is
even a rather cool animation-like sequence somewhere in the middle,
which illustrates pretty well what you can do with modest means.

The soundtrack is pretty silly, intentionally so. Not what I'd call a
great or suitable soundtrack, but it does invoke a couple of smiles
throughout the film. And I can say pretty much the same thing about the
acting. Seeing it's a high school comedy there is plenty of overacting
and posing going on, but it fits the setting. It's not A-class, high
standard stuff, but for a film like this, I don't mind a single bit.

Real gore hounds and splatter fans might be a little disappointed by
the lighter atmosphere. VG Vs FG is a true comedy at heart, but filled
with the usual blood fountains and torn faces. What it all boils down to
is bringing their crazy ideas to the big screen, and in that they
succeed like no other. There is never a dull moment to be found, keeping
the entertainment factor extremely high, always coming up with new,
crazy stuff.

The comedic range is also pretty wide. Of course there are some strange
manga-esque characters and some gory fun, but Nishimura and Tomomatsu
seem keen to include some references to other films. There's the pretty
obvious link to Ju-on, with Shimizu himself playing a Chinese teacher
doing some good promotion for his films, but the attentive viewer might
also catch a glimpse of Pan's Labyrinth and some other big films in
there.

Vampire Girl Vs Frankenstein Girl is entertainment to the max. There is
no time for dull moments or dramatic depth, just heaps of blood, gore
and silliness. And this time around, there's also plenty of room for
comedy, which is a new twist compared to its predecessors (at least its
immediate ones, the film could be compared to something like Battlefield
Baseball I guess). Still, the film still caters to pretty much the same
audience as before. Another good addition, showing that there is still
plenty of fun and creativity left to keep this genre going a little
longer.

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